Meta claims their Metaverse is going to bring about the future of socialization on the Internet, but what is it really bringing us? This past year, Facebook (the company, not the social network) rebranded itself as Meta and introduced what’s known as the “Metaverse,” a virtual space where individuals are able to interact with different places, products and other users.

“The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence—like you are right there with another person or in another place. Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a company letter introducing the new project to consumers.

Essentially, the Metaverse is just a VR solution to social media. You’d need a VR headset (which tends to be fairly pricey) and likely a strong internet connection to participate. There are a number of different applications in the current form of the Metaverse, with games like Beat Saber and chatting apps like Horizon Worlds. You can also browse the internet and pull up apps like Instagram and YouTube as well.

We also know that Meta’s not a company with the greatest track record—they’ve admitted that Facebook was used as a platform to promote genocide in Myanmar, Instagram has been cited as a source for teen depression, and both platforms have been used to spread COVID misinformation, despite Meta’s attempts to implement means of fact-checking. We shouldn’t have a company that has so clearly acted against public interests for personal gain leading the ‘future’ of the internet.

If you’ve used Instagram, Facebook, Messenger or WhatsApp before (or even if you haven’t), your data’s already being tracked and stored with Meta. If you get involved with the Metaverse, you’re essentially allowing Meta to build an information farm directly on top of you. All of your movements, split-second decisions, slight glances at ads and interactions in the metaverse will be tracked and stored. Then, with this information, Meta can create a perfectly tailored stream of content for you, which will keep you strapped into the Metaverse and your headset for even longer and rack in even more money. Why watch an ad on a screen when you can be bombarded with them in full 3d like in the Black Mirror episode “15 Million Merits”? The only ‘futuristic’ aspect of the Metaverse is the new and innovative way ads will be shoved down our throats—exciting!

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram should be used as a tool for interaction, not as the sole medium for which interaction occurs. The Metaverse takes this a step further, stripping real-life connections out of the equation altogether. Who doesn’t love staring into another plastic avatar’s lifeless, beady eyes while enjoying a nice virtual dinner with a number of other people strapped into their VR headsets? (Honestly, it sounds kind of fun, but I’d hate to see it as our sole means of communication in the future!)

I also take issue with Meta’s framing of the Metaverse as if it’s some new, innovative, next step that the internet is bound to take in the future—the existence of VR chatrooms have long predated the introduction of the Metaverse, with games like VRChat (released in 2017) allowing players to, quite literally, do everything that the Metaverse claims it can do. You can set your avatar to a myriad of different characters (or make your own), travel to different virtual rooms and just chat with others. Seems awfully similar to the Metaverse, doesn’t it? (Only, you aren’t going to be pushed to purchase things or watch tailored content).

The more time that Meta spends pulling us away from interacting with one another in the real world, the more time they peddle us with algorithmically selected content and advertisements to keep us spending as much money and time on their platforms as possible. Meta’s presenting the ‘Metaverse’ as if it’s a step into an optimistic, virtual future where anything and everything can be experienced, but really, it’s much more like leading us headfirst into Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”.

It’s as if Zuckerberg realized that it’s too much work trying to lead us to a better future in the world they’ve helped to destroy—life’s far too difficult out here, isn’t it? It’d be much easier if they just constructed their own polished and perfect virtual world where there’s nothing wrong that we can all run to when our real issues get the best of us.